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The Id and The Odyssey; Episode 10

Rich's Interest Episode

Rich peddled east out of Olean and stopped at a grocery. He bought a
small can of corned beef, a couple of packages of Twinkies, a can of
assorted nuts, and a half pound of bacon. He turned northeast and
soon found a woods and camped about fifty yards from the road.

The next morning
the fog hung low and thin like a bed sheet. Rich fried the bacon and
sliced potatoes over a fire and had a magnificent breakfast. He
cleaned up the campsite and pointed the bike north. In a couple of
hours the fog lifted along and with it the fear of being hit by a
car.

The weather was
incredibly pleasant and warm, not at all what he had expected. He
had not experienced any frost, but knew it was coming. H prepared
for it with an insolated jacket tucked in his gear. He thought little
of home. He knew there was turmoil and anger - perhaps some tears. He
had tears. Emotions were many and not known whether they were tears
of sadness or determination. He peddled on, straining the inclines,
and coasting down hills with speed and exhilaration that dried the
tears.

A red Renault
coasted beside Rich. He looked into the car. It was a young lady with
long straight hair and dark horn rim glasses. She leaned over and
rolled down the window. “You going to Alfred?”

“Yeah,” Rich
said as peddled alongside.

“Do you want a
lift?” she said.

“Sure,” Rich
said and stopped.

She stopped the
car and got out. She was tall, thin, wore black lose fitting slacks,
and matching blouse. She looked as if she was in her early twenties.
“Can you tie it to the back?”

“I think so,”
Rich said and lifted the bike on to the back bumper and secured it
with rope he had tucked away in his tent roll.

They climbed into
the car. The back seat was packed with clothing and household items
and a plant.

“Mary Kaplan,”
she said as she put the car in gear and drove away.

“Steve
Barnett,” Rich said. He did not have the level of trust he had with
Glen.

“Where ya from
Steve?”

“Ohio,” Rich
said, “How about you?”

“Buffalo,”
she said. “This is my last year at Alfred.”

“You a
freshman,” she asked.

The question
stumbled Rich at first. He was thinking freshman in high school and
it occurred she must have meant college. “I hope I didn’t give
you the wrong impression. I’m not going to college at Alfred. I
just happened to know there’s a college there. I’m just passing
through.”

“Oh,” she
said and hesitated.

“If you want me
to get out that’s okay,” Rich said.

“No, no that’s
okay. I just assumed,” she said. “Where are you headed?”

“Maine,” Rich
said.

“You have
family there?”

“No, just want
to live there,” Rich said.

“Why a
bicycle?” she said.

“I thought it
would be the best way to see the country,” Rich said.

“How’s it
going so far?” She asked.

“Good,” Rich
said. “New York is beautiful - not what I expected.”

“How so?” she
asked.

“I didn’t
expect so many hills. It’s hard to do on a bike,” Rich said.
“What are you taking in college?”

“Astronomy,”
she said.

“That’s
interesting,” Rich said admiringly.

“Yes it is,”
she said smugly. “Are you going to go to college someday?”

“Perhaps,”
Rich said.

“That usually
means no,” she said.

“If I say
perhaps it means perhaps,” Rich said.

“What are your
interest?” She asked.

“I’m
interested in everything,” Rich said.

“Can you narrow
that down?” She said. “That means you have no interest. You’ll
be like a steel ball in a pinball machine, bumping from one thing to
another with no direction in your life.

“I appreciate
your concern and frankness,” Rich said, “but we are not that far
apart.”

“What!” she
said incredulously smiling. “We are nothing alike.”

“I’ll give
you an example,” Rich said. “You’re interested in everything in
the universe, right?”.

“Right,” she
said.

“The universe
is vastly and infinitely larger than the earth, right?” Rich said.

“Right,” she
said.

“I’m
interested only in what is on earth,” Rich said. “That makes it
vastly and infinitely more narrow than your interest.” Rich smiled.

From Kenton Lewis: You Must Read This First To Know What The Heck Goes On Here

This site contains mostly fiction. Currently a novel is posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday entitled Beyond Beyond. It is broken down into short episodes between two and four pages each. Thus, if you enter on anything other than episode 1, it would be good the scroll down to find previous episodes.

The archives are full of short stories. Some short stories are very short, just one posting. Others are broken down into episodes also.

Every post contains 350 to 1,500 words.

Anyway, I hope you visit several times a week.

In addition, this site is free of promotions and advertising except for the sale of Kenton Lewis books. That's a hint. Otherwise just tuck a $20 bill in an envelop and email me for my address.

This Is He

Taken shortly after my beheading. I refused to give up coffee. "Not from my cold dead hands!"